Peterson ’14 Elected Student Body President

By Sammy Bhatia ’15 • April 7, 2013

Congratulations to Maya Peterson ’14 for her victory in the election of the student body president. In a vote conducted on Wednesday after an all-school forum hosted by The Lawrence, Peterson won the majority over classmate Andreas Vandris ’14 In the upcoming weeks, she and the newly elected student council will take office.

Peterson is a member of the Stanley House and is a prominent member of the school community. As the winner of the Poetry Out Loud competition, participant in Winterfest, member of the Gay Straight Alliance club and Big Red Varsity softball team, it is obvious that Peterson’s involvement in the school is beyond extensive.

Peterson’s mission, as she said, is to make Lawrenceville a “truly unified and diverse” place. In doing so, she plans on introducing a new Diversity Representative on the student council board. He or she will work to eliminate social tension on campus, an issue Peterson feels strongly about. Furthermore, she plans to utilize Lawrenceville’s prime location between New York City and Philadelphia to organize more trips to both the cities, such as attending Yankees, Knicks and Flyers games, to name a few. She also hopes to encourage Lawrentians to focus more on history by visiting museums and historical sites in both cities over the weekends.

Changing the focus of school lectures to more academic and social topics is yet another of Peterson’s many aspirations for the upcoming school year. An exciting event she wishes to introduce is a school-wide “unity games,” with live performances and an all school barbeque. Peterson plans on improving the Irwin menu, something many Lawrentians have been praying would happen for many years now. Also regarding the dining center, she plans on being available during house lunch to talk with students about any complaints or issues they might have. On a different note, Peterson will implement a complaint site similar to Formspring in which students can submit completely anonymous ideas or complaints to the Student Council for consideration.

Current school president Nick Fenton ’13 said, “First off, I would like to publicly congratulate Maya Peterson on her victory. I am confident that she will lead Lawrenceville effectively, and by the time she graduates next year, Lawrenceville will be an even better place than it already is. Maya is someone who stands for what she believes in and truly wants our school to become even more unified than it already is. There is no doubt in my mind that Maya will do a phenomenal job as president next year.”

Regarding her recent victory, Peterson said, “I would really like to thank the entire Lawrenceville community. Without the support of the faculty members and students that encouraged me, this entire process would have been a lot more difficult for me. This opportunity is truly a blessing and I promise that I will work tirelessly next year to make sure that everyone at Lawrenceville embraces each other. Next year is going to be amazing and I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for believing in me.”

Once again, congratulations to Maya Peterson on her victory. Hopefully, under her administration and leadership, the next year will be one to remember.